My Roommate Called My Dad My Sugar Daddy? Oops, There Goes Her Fellowship Chapter 02

My Roommate Called My Dad My Sugar Daddy? Oops, There Goes Her Fellowship Chapter 02

By the time Rachel got to our room, Claire had gone back to being quiet and agreeable the way she always was.

She stood beside the desk and kept her voice down.

“Ms. Mercer, I really wasn’t trying to hurt Nora.”

“I saw her carrying an extremely expensive designer bag and having dinner with an older man at an upscale hotel.”

“The fellowship shortlist is still under review, and I was afraid the rumors would hurt her candidacy.”

“So I thought I’d say something to her first.”

Rachel turned to me.

I set my phone on the desk with the recording open.

“Ms. Mercer, what she calls saying something started with showing our roommates a photo she took without my knowledge.”

“She emphasized the fellowship review period, the price of the bag, and the man’s age.”

“That is defamation by insinuation.”

Claire gave a slight frown.

“Nora, don’t make me out to be that awful.”

“I never said your money came from anything improper.”

“But you led everyone else to think it.”

She looked at me, perfectly calm.

“What other people think isn’t something I can control.”

I was angry enough to laugh.

“You throw a match into dry grass and then say you didn’t start the fire?”

Rachel’s face was grim when she asked, “Where’s the original photo?”

Claire paused for a few seconds.

“I deleted it.”

Zoe spoke up immediately.

“Ms. Mercer, she showed it to us a few minutes ago.”

Claire said softly.

“I was afraid it would upset Nora more, so I deleted it.”

Hallie could not help saying under her breath, “That was fast.”

Rachel’s expression hardened.

“Claire, did you send that photo to anyone else?”

“No.”

She answered quickly.

“I only showed it to our roommates.”

Rachel studied her for a moment.

“The department will hold a fact-finding meeting tomorrow morning.”

“Both of you bring your evidence.”

Claire nodded.

“All right.”

Her tone was steady.

But when she looked down, I saw her thumb tap rapidly across the screen.

That night, the anonymous campus forum exploded with posts about me.

The title made my stomach turn.

[During the fellowship review, the top-ranked candidate in her department is carrying an $18,000 designer bag and was photographed entering a luxury hotel with a middle-aged man. Should this be investigated?]

The post included the same photo.

My face was blurred out.

But between the department, the year, the top ranking, and the fellowship shortlist, anyone who knew me could put it together in seconds.

The comments spiraled out of control.

[Does this even need asking? Investigate her.]

[What ordinary student can afford an $18,000 bag?]

[Her roommate on financial aid raises a concern and gets reported to a faculty member for it?]

[Did she earn that fellowship or did a man?]

I looked at the screen until my stomach ached with it.

Claire knew exactly what kind of rumor could derail a candidate during a fellowship review.

She knew that once rumors like these spread, some people would keep believing them even after the truth came out.

Zoe swore beside me.

“She said a minute ago that she hadn’t sent it to anyone!”

Hallie looked equally disturbed.

“This is way over the line.”

A second post appeared minutes later.

It was an audio clip.

Only my voice was on it.

“I did go to a luxury hotel last night.”

“I did have dinner with a man much older than me.”

“And he paid for the bag.”

Everything Claire had said to bait me, along with every question I had asked afterward, had been cut out.

My fingers shook.

I could barely contain my anger.

I refused to let a few sentences ripped out of context define me.